I'm a bit behind, so will have a name on all 5 fingers for today's weighted pullups.

Vicki, Bev, John, Kristina and now Shannon

My mom sends me names from time to time. Shannon is a distant cousin of mine.

I'm going to take some photos of my hand and send them to Shannon. I encourage you to do the same, take photos of your own hands and send them on to the people we're doing this for if you wish. Or send them the photo of my hand, when I post it here.

Here's what my mom wrote about Shannon:

"The next time you are doing a work-out, you can write Shannon's name on your hand. This gal needs some support and prayers. She was diagnosed with breast cancer back in the winter. Has had the breast removed and is now into the chemo process. Jeff and Shannon have 2 daughters - the eldest graduated Gr. 8 this year."

And this from Shannon's family:

"Well Shannon's Chemo treatments are now over half done. We went for #7 on June 24th. For the first 6 treatments we were in the Allan Blair Cancer Clinic for 2 hours being administered two drugs. For treatments #7 to 12 we started Paclitaxel, but we went into the Clinic at 8:00 a.m. and never started until 8:45. We left the hospital at 2:00p.m. It looks like this one drug has to be administered over 3 hours, but then there is the initial Benadryl (for allergies) and then a flush afterwards, so probably will be around 5 hours for each treatment.

Shannon has lost her hair and we have a wig - although she prefers to wear the head scarves. She does have her eyebrows still and her finger nails - you can lose your nails.

Around 2-3 days after this last chemo treatment, Shannon had bad leg and hip pain which lasted for more than two days. We called in and they said to take Tylenol, but that did not help. We called back and they said to take Motrin which seemed to help alleviate the pain. Then finally the pain went away, but Shannon's energy level was down quite a bit. Then starting Tuesday this week she wasn't breathing properly until today she couldn't take it anymore and we went to emergency. They took Shannon's blood pressure and it was very low 92 over 52. They got us in a room at emergency right away and then took x-rays. Shannon has pneumonia. They think it is in just one lung, but the doctor said she thought she heard something in the second They are keeping her in at the hospital with an IV and giving her blood thinners (for blood clots since she hasn't been very active recently) and anitibiotics. She is at the Pasqua hospital but doesn't want visitors, just your prayers."

Congratulations both on being a cancer survivor and on using your experience to help others! You are an inspiration to me.

My son Joseph is also a cancer survivor. He was diagnosed at age 1 with myelodysplastic syndrome (similar to acute myelogenous leukemia), and underwent several months of chemotherapy in 2006 and 2007. Now by all objective measures he is cured, we believe prayer played a part in that.

This season Joseph was named the "Honored Teammate" by the Clear Lake Team in Training (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fundraising organization, www.teamintraining.org , www.lls.org both wfs). We participate in their fundraisers, and I do the marathon training runs with them in my "Joseph" jersey with my son's photo(attached pic), to encourage the athletes who have dedicated themselves to helping others. I've been wondering if it would be possible to arrange a CF fundraiser as an alternative to the endurance events, just a thought...

Thanks for the positive thread! I will also have those mentioned here in my thoughts and prayers in my next workout.

I've been following this thread, and writing some names on my hand, too. Even though I'm a newbie, every bit helps! Congrats on your victory against cancer!!

Now I have a name of my own to add. My friend, Jana, was murdered last week. She was a champion of women and men, and always believed in keeping the body healthy. I think she would have liked crossfit!!

I agree Joseph is a cute boy, he lost his hair too during chemo. Now mom won't let me take him for a haircut since his curls grew back.

I did see a notice about the FGB fundraiser for prostate cancer, another good cause. I don't yet know the history of the CF involvement, but will investigate.

I will have to contact the TNT and CF offices to see if there would be interest in a joint fundraising event for leukemia/lymphoma. If not, perhaps a "grassroots" project would be possible. I'll let you know what I find out. I think it's a reasonable question, I imagine as this thread continues, you will see there a lot of people in the CF community whose lives have been affected by blood cancers.

You are all great people & have helped me start my Monday with strong motivation to work hard at CF and at my fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Thank you! Getting personal with cancer survivors and those who are fighting through cancer puts everything into perspective and gives me the desire to keep working.

I will be checking this thread often and will deffinitely be writing some names on my hand. You guys & gals are hero's and are great examples of what is possible if you put your mind to it.

Great thread, Robert.
Jeff Hayes, who owns BTB Fitness (Crossfit box) here in Atlanta along with his wife Melissa, battled and beat Hodgkin's Lymphoma last year. Unfortunately, the cancer returned and he underwent a bone marrow transplant a few days ago. Please keep him in your thoughts. Thanks.